


Date Night

by blueberryfallout



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberryfallout/pseuds/blueberryfallout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this one, as usual, was all mx_carter so if you guys think it's weird you can blame them because I AM THROWING MX_CARTER UNDER THE BUS. on that note, pls enjoy and wtf was with zootopia it was one of the best movies i've seen this year and i cried during it and shipped the two main characters way more than expected</p></blockquote>





	Date Night

Judy ducks under a bull’s arm, narrowly avoiding the heavy clop of his hooves. “Sorry!” she calls over her shoulder, hopping onto a mailbox, over a sheep’s head, and onto the ground, where she takes off at a run. She hasn’t been late for work yet and she’s not going to start now.  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she yells as she slides between a giraffe’s legs and into the department. The giraffe makes an annoyed harrumph noise, but she’s already running off before he can say anything else. She clocks in with seconds to spare, beaming up at the cow who runs the sign-in desk. “Hey, Mildred!” 

Mildred, one of the first large, non-predatory animals hired by the department who wasn’t an elephant or a bull, smiles back. “Hey, Judy. Cutting it close this morning.”

Judy hops from foot to foot, too excited to stay still. “I know, I know. See ya!” She runs to the locker room, changing quickly into her uniform, and then scurries to the car. Nick’s already there, waiting, eating his usual popsicle. It’s grape this morning, staining the fur of his chops purple. He grins with sharp wait teeth, waving. 

Throwing the driver’s side door open, Judy slides inside. They had to design a special car that would fit both her and any larger perps without the pedals being too far away for her feet to touch. “Morning.” He throws a smile over at her, finishing his popsicle with two neat bites and tossing the stick in the glove compartment. 

Judy wrinkles her nose. “ _Nick_.” 

He waves a paw as she starts the car. “Don’t worry about it, Carrots. You know I’ll throw it away as soon as we finish patrol.” She groans but accepts it.  
+++  
They go out for dinner after patrol, to a new restaurant owned by one of Nick’s many friends. They’re given a table in the back, where people won’t come up to speak with the “hero cops” who saved the city. Normally Judy doesn’t mind, but sometimes she just wants to be left in peace.

Her and Nick chat on and off over dinner, which is delicious. Sometimes restaurants focus only on certain foods, neglecting what feeds other animals; Judy once ate at a place that thought salad was just two carrots. Or that one time she and Clawhauser went to a café and they served him rancid fish, like he wouldn’t even notice!

Afterwards, she and Nick walk out through the crowds, busier than usual. He takes her paw after she almost gets bowled over by an antelope chattering loudly on his phone, not even noticing Judy underfoot. It’s times like these that she understands why the rodents have their own town. She can’t imagine being that small and trying to navigate around. 

Nick’s fur is warm against hers, a little rougher. He sheds like crazy in the summer, red fur covering their entire apartment. It gets in her nose and makes her sneeze, which in turn makes Nick laugh. “Little bunny sneezes,” he always says. 

She squeezes his paw once, thankful that he’s here to lead her through the crowd. They dart between two squabbling turkeys, their wattles wobbling.

“C’mon, Hopps, keep up,” Nick calls over his shoulder, white teeth flashing. She almost stumbles over the sidewalk as he steps onto it, but manages to keep in step.

“Where are we going?” she asks as they walk past the turn onto the street where their apartment is. They moved in together a year ago, shortly after he joined the force. The rent is easy and it’s better than her box of a first apartment, with the arguing gazelles.  
Her room was right next to Nick’s; she found the noises of him going to sleep at night comforting. At first it was weird, living with the guy she was secretly in love with for, oh, just about forever it seemed. Of course, now that they’re dating, they share a bed.

She grins at the back of his furry red head, his ears twitching as sirens ring far off. Thank God she had the courage to kiss him four months ago, after ages of pining and angst. Since then, their partnership has only gotten better and closer.

“A place,” Nick answers, being deliberately obtuse just to annoy her, she can tell by the saucy tilt of his head. 

“A place, huh?” He nods once, turning a corner so quickly that their handhold almost breaks. They head down a damp, dim alley that makes all her fur stand on end. “Nick?” 

He squeezes her paw, reassuring. “Give me a second. Finnick’s place is just up here.” 

“Finnick’s place?” she asks, beginning to feel like a copycat doll. Judy wasn’t aware Finnick had an actual place, she sort of just assumed that he lived in the van.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s great!” Nick says, excited in that way he gets when he isn’t being self-aware. She thinks it’s endearing. After a few more feet, and a near collision with a boar who was in a hurry, they arrive at a fire escape that Nick easily leaps onto, holding out a hand for her to grab. 

It’s still a bit out of reach, though, so she uses a garbage can as a jumping point to the lowest rungs. Panting and pleased with herself, she grins at Nick. “Alrighty, partner. Where next?”

“To the very top,” he calls after himself as he climbs the ladder, tail waving. Judy follows him for a couple stories til they reach the roof, thank heavens. The ladder was swaying, creaking, and although Judy tries to avoid her parents constant worry, she can hear her father’s voice saying, “If a rabbit was meant to go more than a few feet off the ground, we would’ve been birds.”

When she crawls over the ladder’s top, Nick’s paw is waiting for her. He’s grinning again, that smug grin that she hated when they first met but loves now. “Feast your eyes on this, Carrots.” They’re in a tiny, well-kept roof garden, long neat rows of plants growing high. Judy inhales deeply, smelling rich dirt and plants and _home_. 

She had complained to Nick, just once a couple days ago, about missing home. Considering how drunk they both were at the time, she’s surprised and pleased that he remembered. She crouches to feel the soft leaves of the nearest Raphanus sativus, beaming. If she closes her eyes it feels like home. She loves Zootopia, she really, really does, but sometimes she misses home like an ache just below her sternum. 

“Oh, _Nick_ ,” she breathes, sensing him behind her, his paw on her shoulder. 

“Do, ah, do you like it? Finnick says we can come here whenever we like.” 

“I love it,” she tells him, standing and turning to throw her arms around his waist. “And I love you.” He settles his arms over her shoulders, gently squeezing. They stay like that for a while, swaying, lost in each other. Eventually, Judy knows, they’ll have to go home. For now, there’s this perfect moment.

**Author's Note:**

> this one, as usual, was all mx_carter so if you guys think it's weird you can blame them because I AM THROWING MX_CARTER UNDER THE BUS. on that note, pls enjoy and wtf was with zootopia it was one of the best movies i've seen this year and i cried during it and shipped the two main characters way more than expected


End file.
